Anyone who doubts that children are born with a healthy amount of ambition need spend only a few minutes with a baby eagerly learning to walk. No matter how many times the little ones stumble in their first efforts, most keep on trying, determined to master their amazing new skill. It is only several years later, many psychologists and teachers agree, that a good number of kids seem to lose their natural drive to succeed. For the parents of such kids, whose own ambition is often tied to their children’s success, it can be a painful experience.

Figuring out why the fire went out is the first step. Assuming that a kid doesn’t suffer from a learning disability, or isn’t involved in some family crisis(危机) at home, many educators attribute a sudden lack of motivation to a fear of failure or classmate pressure. “Everything is within the kids’ control; their intelligence is changeable,” says Lisa Blackwell, a research scientist at Columbia University. More than any teacher or workshop, Blackwell says, “parents can play a key role in conveying this message to their children by praising their effort, and progress rather than emphasizing their ‘smartness’ or praising high performance alone. Most of all, parents should let their kids know that mistakes are a part of learning.”

Some experts say our education system, with its strong emphasis on testing and separation of students into different levels of ability, also bears blame for the disappearance of drive in some kids. “These programs shut down the motivation of all kids who aren’t considered gifted and talented. They destroy their confidence,” says Jeff Howard, a social psychologist. Howard and other educators say it’s important to expose kids to a world beyond homework and tests, through volunteer work, sports, hobbies and other extracurriculum activities.

“The problem of the issue is that many students experience education as irrelevant to their life goals and ambitions,” says Michael Nakkual, a Harvard education professor. The key to getting kids to aim higher at school is to free them of the idea that class work is irrelevant, to show them how doing well at school can actually help them fulfill their dreams beyond it. They need to understand that you have to learn to walk before you can run.

46．According to the passage, the parents of kids with no ambition        .

A．don’t do a very good job teaching them to walk

B．are to blame if the kids do poorly in school

C．feel pain because ambitions are connected to their success

D．should take part in extracurriculum activities with kids

47．The underlined part “the fire went out” probably means        .

A．the motivation was suddenly lost

B．the fear of failure was suddenly gone

C．the learning disability was suddenly lost

D．the fire was suddenly gone

48．All the following can contribute to a sudden lack of ambition except        .

A．learning disability                                       B．classmate pressure

C．emphasis on testing                                     D．extracurricular activities

49．What is the most important thing for parents in motivating their kids?

A．By punishing kids who don’t display ambition.

B．By emphasizing smartness and high performance.

C．By telling kids that mistakes are a part of learning.

D．By praising the effort and progress they have made.

50．We can infer from the passage that        .

A．children who have lost their ambition will never succeed in life

B．school performance has much to do with students’ later success

C．both the parents and the school are to blame for the lost ambition

D．younger kids learning to walk are more ambitious than older ones

“You know, these cups bring to mind a tea quote(说法) I heard.” Mary’s aunt said.

She poured tea. There were four of them and there were four totally different cups on the table.

They took their tea cups.

“What quote?” Mary asked.

“Well, maybe I should rather say it is a story,” aunt said, “I heard that there was a wise teacher who took all his students for tea. They were surprised that all the cups on the table were different. Each of them took a cup and started drinking their tea, each looking at the cups of others. The teacher let them do that for a while and then said,‘ Do you notice your behavior? You are all looking at each other’s tea cup and I can see some of you with the broken ones are even envious(羡慕的) of the finer cups of others. Is this not so?’ ”

The students agreed, amused by their own behavior.

“You may have wondered why you all had different cups, but I put them here on purpose. You see they represent (代表) life itself. Life is like that tea and the cups are like the physical circumstances(状况) of your life. You all got the same thing in your cups — tea. And yet you can not truly enjoy it in your envy of another’s cup. It’s just the same with life. You forget to enjoy your own life when you concentrate on envying the circumstances of someone else’s life.

So now, close your eyes, and taste your own tea. Really taste it. And tell me — did it matter from which cup it came from?”

Aunt finished telling her short tea story and they all sat in silence for a while, tasting their tea. A sleepy fly buzzed(嗡嗡作响) past, a bird sang in the tree. And it really did not matter one bit from which tea cup they drank.

When the students found they had different tea cups, they_____________.

A. were satisfied with their own cup

B. were angry about the broken cups they had been given

C. asked the teacher to get new cups for them

D. were curious about the difference between the cups

From the text, we know that _____________.

A. the teacher prepared different tea cups for each student

B. the teacher should have given the students the same cups

C. the teacher made the tea cups different by mistake.

D. each student took their time to choose a cup they liked

According to the passage, by comparing the cups to the physical circumstances of people’s life, the teacher meant that people_______.

A. should try different ways of life

B. shouldn’t focus on envy others’ physical circumstances

C. can never change their physical circumstances

D. should work hard for a better life

In the passage the teacher’s message to the students was that _______.

A. life is hard and boring for everyone

B. it is strange to be envious of the lives of others

C. everyone should learn to enjoy his own life

D. people act differently in different circumstances

What can be the best title for the passage?

     A. More than tea in a cup                           B. The value of tea

       C. Tea vs cup                                            D. Enjoying tea with a broken cup

“You know, these cups bring to mind a tea quote(说法) I heard.” Mary’s aunt said.
She poured tea. There were four of them and there were four totally different cups on the table.
They took their tea cups.
“What quote?” Mary asked.
“Well, maybe I should rather say it is a story,” aunt said, “I heard that there was a wise teacher who took all his students for tea. They were surprised that all the cups on the table were different. Each of them took a cup and started drinking their tea, each looking at the cups of others. The teacher let them do that for a while and then said,‘ Do you notice your behavior? You are all looking at each other’s tea cup and I can see some of you with the broken ones are even envious(羡慕的) of the finer cups of others. Is this not so?’ ”
The students agreed, amused by their own behavior.
“You may have wondered why you all had different cups, but I put them here on purpose. You see they represent (代表) life itself. Life is like that tea and the cups are like the physical circumstances(状况) of your life. You all got the same thing in your cups — tea. And yet you can not truly enjoy it in your envy of another’s cup. It’s just the same with life. You forget to enjoy your own life when you concentrate on envying the circumstances of someone else’s life.
So now, close your eyes, and taste your own tea. Really taste it. And tell me — did it matter from which cup it came from?”
Aunt finished telling her short tea story and they all sat in silence for a while, tasting their tea. A sleepy fly buzzed(嗡嗡作响) past, a bird sang in the tree. And it really did not matter one bit from which tea cup they drank.
【小题1】 When the students found they had different tea cups, they_____________.

“You know, these cups bring to mind a tea quote(说法) I heard.” Mary’s aunt said.

She poured tea. There were four of them and there were four totally different cups on the table.

They took their tea cups.

“What quote?” Mary asked.

“Well, maybe I should rather say it is a story,” aunt said, “I heard that there was a wise teacher who took all his students for tea. They were surprised that all the cups on the table were different. Each of them took a cup and started drinking their tea, each looking at the cups of others. The teacher let them do that for a while and then said,‘ Do you notice your behavior? You are all looking at each other’s tea cup and I can see some of you with the broken ones are even envious(羡慕的) of the finer cups of others. Is this not so?’ ”

The students agreed, amused by their own behavior.

“You may have wondered why you all had different cups, but I put them here on purpose. You see they represent (代表) life itself. Life is like that tea and the cups are like the physical circumstances(状况) of your life. You all got the same thing in your cups — tea. And yet you can not truly enjoy it in your envy of another’s cup. It’s just the same with life. You forget to enjoy your own life when you concentrate on envying the circumstances of someone else’s life.

So now, close your eyes, and taste your own tea. Really taste it. And tell me — did it matter from which cup it came from?”

Aunt finished telling her short tea story and they all sat in silence for a while, tasting their tea. A sleepy fly buzzed(嗡嗡作响) past, a bird sang in the tree. And it really did not matter one bit from which tea cup they drank.

1. When the students found they had different tea cups, they_____________.

2.From the text, we know that _____________.

3. According to the passage, by comparing the cups to the physical circumstances of people’s life, the teacher meant that people_______.

4. In the passage the teacher’s message to the students was that _______.

5. What can be the best title for the passage?